January 18, 2005
Nelson Phelps, President and Executive Director
ASSOCIATION OF U S WEST RETIREES (AUSWR)
AUSWR Board Members and General Membership
FYI. This is a follow-up to my December 15
report concerning the request made under the Freedom of
Information Act ("FOIA") for copies of the transcripts
of the SEC's interviews/depositions of about 80 persons
concerning the SEC's 'investigation' into Qwest's
federal securities laws violations. The text of my
follow-up letter sent today is reproduced below. I have
attached in Adobe PDF file format the January 12, 2005,
response letter received from the SEC.
===========================================
January 18, 2005
Clarissa Anderson, FOIA Research Specialist
UNITED STATES SECURITIES & EXCHANGE COMMISSION
FOIA Office, Stop O-5
6432 General Green Way
Alexandria, VA 22312-2413
Tele: 202-942-4335
Fax: 703-914-1149 (Via Fax and First Class Mail)
Randall J. Fons, Central Regional Office Director
UNITED STATES SECURITIES & EXCHANGE COMMISSION
1801 California Street, Suite 1500
Denver, CO 80202-2656
Tele: 303-844-1000
Fax: 303-844-1068 (Via Fax and First Class Mail)
denver@sec.gov
Re: Freedom of Information Act Request (Sent December 15, 2004)
Transcripts of Interviews/Depositions of Qwest witnesses
Ms. Anderson and Mr. Fons:
Surely, someone did not carefully read my December 15, 2004, request
submitted under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as amended, 5 U.S.C.
§ 552. This FOIA request concerns information about interviews/depositions
the SEC has conducted of approximately 80 Qwest witnesses during the past
several years. Please let this letter serve as a FOIA request by myself and
on behalf of requesters Nelson Phelps and Mary “Mimi” Hull whose addresses
appear herein below. We did not ask for the
deposition transcripts of Nelson B. Phelps and Mary Hull!
Yet, someone prepared a letter for Ms. Anderson's signature which letter
sent to me on or about January 12, 2005, states, “[t]his letter responds to
your request dated and received in this office on December 15, 2004, for the
deposition transcripts of Nelson B. Phelps and Mary Hull in connection with
the Commission's investigation of Qwest. This is ridiculous. Please
reread the letter we sent, a copy of which is attached hereto. It is clear
that Mr. Phelps and Ms. Hull are the requesters and they did not ask for
transcripts of their depositions, because, obviously no such documents
exists.
Accordingly, please provide the responsive records - the transcripts
of the interviews/depositions taken of the almost 80 witnesses examined by
the SEC. Again, please refer to the December 15, 2004, FOIA
request letter, a copy of which is attached hereto. Ms. Anderson, a simple
phone call to Mr. Fons’ office would have easily directed you and/or your
office staff to the requested materials.
Requesters Mr. Phelps and Ms. Hull remain willing and able to pay the
reasonable photocopying costs for the documents responsive to the FOIA
request. Therefore, we request that you send acknowledgment of your receipt
of this repeated FOIA request and advise of the estimated delivery date of
the requested transcripts. Again, we prefer that all responsive documents
be sent to me in electronic format, on a CD. Should the SEC decide not to
provide the requested transcripts, please send me a Vaughn index and
explanation. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Curtis L. Kennedy
=============================================